Alex G

A stripped down and fuzzy lo-fi wonderland, mining for textures and nuggets of a simpler time, grooving in our bedrooms, playing with our second hand recording devices and prized possession guitars, smoking pot, sneaking beers, hanging out in parks and holding hands with the whole future opened wide in front of our eyes.  Philadelphia songwriter Alex G's "DSU" album sounds like that.  Listen to "Serpent is Lord" below and go here to download the whole album (name your price).

alt-J

Full disclosure: when alt-J's first album came out a couple of years ago, i didn't get why people reacted so strongly.  It's not bad or anything, but it just never hit me the way it seemed to hit so many other folks.  At best, i would have called it serviceable.  All that being said, i'm really digging the band's new single, "Hunger of the Pine," the first taste of new album "This Is All Yours," out in September on Canvasback/Infectious.  The song is moody and eerie and contains a Miley Cyrus sample of all things.  I also think there's a sample of Hans Zimmer's "Journey to the Line" from the score to "The Thin Red Line," but i can't find any confirmation on that.  It it's so, remember you heard it here first.  Listen the track below.

Happy 4th of July!

image courtesy of perfectaphoto.com

Have a great 4th of July weekend everybody!  Let's be careful out there.

Foxes In Fiction

I first heard Foxes In Fiction last year on a collaborative 7" with dreamy, shoegazey, ambient group Benoit Pioulard.  They kind of dropped off my radar after that until "Shadow's Song" from the upcoming "Ontario Gothic" LP surfaced yesterday.  It's absolutely beautiful.  A somber, but hopeful mix of ambient and droney textures, wall-of-sound beats and vocal effects, and the lovely violin of Owen Pallett.  The album is about the aftermath of a family member's death and the subsequent attempt to put one's life back together.  Moving stuff, and based on this first single, i cannot recommend it enough.  Listen below and pre-order the record on Orchid Tapes.

Tony Allen

Legendary Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen has played with an array of different musicians over the years.  One of those musicians is Blur/Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn.  Allen drummed in such Albarn led bands as The Good, The Bad, and The Queen and Rocket Juice and The Moon.  With new solo album "Film of Life" due in October on JazzVillage, Allen has recruited Albarn for vocals on the stunning, summery track "Go Back."  Listen to it below.

Apparently Death Grips broke up...

So, apparently again, i will not be seeing Death Grips at Fun Fun Fun Fest, as the duo have broken up.  I suppose it should really come as no surprise.  Hell, this might all be some sort of extended performance art bullshit the group seems to trade in.  There's the break-up note above.  Oh well.  C'est la vie!

Scott Walker and Sunn O)))

Earlier today, 4AD released a link to this website...with the words "Scott O)))" in glorious black, white, and red.  They have since confirmed that legendary artist Scott Walker is make a collaborative album with drone metal band Sunn O))).  This is an unbelievably cool announcement, and a record is due by year's end.  I'll keep you posted.

Earth

Evidently, we get a new album from Seattle's droney doom wunderkinds Earth later this year...and that's always a plus in my book.  Take a listen to "From the Zodiacal Light" from the forthcoming "Primitive and Deadly" LP out in September on Southern Lord.  It's like getting lost in a sand storm.

Some Contenders for Favorite Album of 2014

2014 is half over.  That's crazy.  You're crazy.  I'm crazy.  Here are 10 albums i've really been digging on so far this year.  God willing, they'll all be on my year-end list.

1. Amen Dunes - "Love"
2. EMA - "The Future's Void"
3. Have A Nice Life - "The Unnatural World"
4. Liars - "Mess"
5. Nothing - "Guilty of Everything"
6. Odonis Odonis - "Hard Boiled Soft Boiled"
7. Perturbator - "Dangerous Days"
8. Power Glove - "Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon"
9. Swans - "To Be Kind"
10. Thou - "Heathen"

I recommend all of these.  You should check them out, or don't, you know, whatever.

Grimes - Go

I'm always so confused as to the state of indie and popular music, and the way the two seem to intertwine and blur lines these days.  We are now living in a world where Miley Cyrus hangs out and performs with The Flaming Lips.  And apparently, Grimes and Blood Diamond wrote a song for Rihanna...which was then rejected by her...and then just recorded by Grimes and Blood Diamond themselves.  "Go" is really poppy.  I mean really poppy.  Like, i could see the tweens of the world just eating it up.  I'm not even sure i like it.  It just seems so odd to me.

I am getting old.

Listen below and download here.